Electrochemical cells generate current between an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte that supports a simultaneous flow of ions between the two electrodes. An external conductive material completes the circuit and allows the cells to power various devices.
Numerous materials have been explored for anodes that have a variety of positive effects and drawbacks. For rechargeable cells, metal hydride based anodes are currently the most widely employed. Lithium hydride materials are much superior to the prior cadmium based batteries due to environmental neutrality. The metal hydride batteries currently known have limited cycle life. Also, lithium hydride based anodes suffer from non-uniform deposition of lithium during the charging process generating dendritic lithium that may detract from full effectiveness of the cell. Other materials have been proposed to replace the lithium hydride based anodes, but none to date have successfully demonstrated sufficiently desirable combinations of cycle life, capacity, and reliability.
Improved electrode materials would be very useful in order to develop high capacity density batteries.